Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Distribution of Metal Contamination and Risk Indices Assessment of Surface Sediments from Cooum River, Chennai, India

  • Research paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Environmental Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rivers are the mostly vulnerable water bodies due to carrying off and assimilating pollutants from both point sources and non-point sources. This study deals with the metal pollution in sediments of the Cooum River, Chennai, India. Eleven sampling stations were selected along the 18 km stretch of the Cooum River, which lies in the urban part of the Chennai City and the concentration of metals such as As, Zn, Mn, Ni, Co, Cr, Cu, Pb, Cd, and Hg in the sediments were determined. The study reveals a progressive increase in the concentration of metals in the downstream due to increase in domestic and industrial drainage (out falls) into the river. Spatial distribution of sediment particle size indicated the dominance of smaller particles ranging from 425 to 75 µm. The concentration of metals in the Cooum River sediments was in the following order: As > Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Cd > Hg. Significant positive correlations exist between Cd and Zn, Cu and Pb, Cd and Hg, and Cr and Hg. Ecological risk indices denote predominant levels (> 70%) of cadmium throughout the sampling points as indicated from contamination factor. Potential ecological risk assessment specified the alarming levels of cadmium and mercury above the standard limits in the sediments assessed. Based on the observations, it is evident that the Cooum River is highly polluted and it becomes essential that the urban effluents should not be overlooked before their discharge into the river.

Article Highlights

  • Metals contamination in the sediments of Cooum river in Chennai city in India were assessed.

  • The distribution pattern of heavy metals in the sediments was observed as: As > Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Cd > Hg.

  • Ecological risk indices represent predominant levels of cadmium throughout the sampling points.

  • Urbanization process had a great influence on accumulation of the toxic heavy metals in Cooum River sediments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • APHA (2012) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 22nd edn. American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Azhar SC, Aris AZ, Yusoff MK, Ramli MF, Juahir H (2015) Classification of river water quality using multivariate analysis. Procedia Environ Sci 30:79–84

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell IT, Brand U, Morrison JO (1999) Cadmium pollution and toxicity. Environmental geology. Springer, Netherlands, p 69

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter SR, Cole JJ, Essington TE, Hodgson JR, Houser JN, Kitchell JF, Pace ML (1998) Evaluating alternative explanations in ecosystem experiments. Ecosystems 1:335–344

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • CPCB (2008) Guide manual: water & wastewater analysis. Report by Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • Elangovan NS, Dharmendirakumar M (2013) Assessment of groundwater quality along the Cooum River, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. J Chem 672372:10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/672372

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elturk M, Abdullah R, Rozainah MZ, Abu Bakar NK (2018) Evaluation of metals and environmental risk assessment in the Mangrove Forest of Kuala Selangor estuary, Malaysia. Mar Pollut. Bull 136:1–9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Folk RL (1974) Petrology of sedimentary rocks. University of Texas, Hernphill, Austin, p 182

    Google Scholar 

  • Förstner U, Wittmann G (1983) Metal pollution in the aquatic environment. Springer, Berlin, p 484

    Google Scholar 

  • Gailey FA, Lloyd OL (1985) Grass and surface soils as monitors of atmospheric metal pollution in central Scotland. Water Air Soil Pollut 24:1–18

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giridharan L, Venugopal T, Jayaprakash M (2009) Assessment of water quality using chemometric tools: a case study of river Cooum, South India. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 56:654–669

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hakanson L (1980) An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control—a sedimentological approach. Water Res 14(8):975–1001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jain CK, Singhal DC, Sharma MK (2005) Metal pollution assessment of sediment and water in the river Hindon, India. Environ Monit Assess 105:193–207

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jha PK, Suramanian V, Stasawad R, Griekan VR (1990) Heavy metals in sediments of the Yamuna River (A tributary of the Ganges) India. Sci Total Environ 95:7–27

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karbassi AR, Monavari SM, Bidhendi GRN, Nouri J, Nematpour K (2008) Metal pollution assessment of sediment and water in the Shur River. Environ Monit Assess 147(1–3):107

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khalil B, Ouarda TMB (2009) Statistical approaches used to assess and redesign surface water quality monitoring networks. J Environ Monit 11:1915–1929

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khorshid MSH, Thiele-Bruhn S (2016) Contamination status and assessment of urban and non-urban soils in the region of Sulaimani City, Kurdistan, Iraq. Environ Earth Sci 75(16):1171

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krika A, Krika F (2018) Assessment of heavy metals pollution in water and sediments of Djendjen river, North Eastern Algeria. Pollution 4(3):495–502

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krumbein WC, Pettijohn FJ (1938) Manual of sedimentary petrography. Appleton Century Crofts, New York, p 549

    Google Scholar 

  • Looi LJ, Aris AZ, Yusoff FM, Isa NM, Haris H (2018) Application of enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, and ecological risk index in assessing the elemental pollution status of surface sediments. Environ Geochem Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-018-0149-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loring DH, Rantala RTT (1992) Manual for the geochemical analyses of marine sediments and suspended particulate matter. Earth Sci Rev 32:235–283

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Müller G (1979) Schwermetalle in den Sedimenten des Rheins—Veränderungen seit 1971. Umschau 79:778–783

    Google Scholar 

  • Omwene PI, Öncel MS, Çelen M, Kobya M (2018) Heavy metal pollution and spatial distribution in surface sediments of Mustafakemalpaşa stream located in the world’s largest borate basin (Turkey). Chemosphere 208:782–792

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ouyang Y, Nkedi-Kizza P, Wu QT, Shinde D, Huang CH (2006) Assessment of seasonal variations in surface water quality. Water Res 40:3800–3810

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patel P, Raju NJ, Reddy BCSR, Suresh U, Sankar DB, Reddy TVK (2018) Heavy metal contamination in river water and sediments of the Swarnamukhi River Basin, India: risk assessment and environmental implications. Environ Geochem Hlth 40(2):609–623

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pejman AH, Bidhendi GN, Karbassi AR, Mehrdadi N, Bidhendi ME (2009) Evaluation of spatial and seasonal variations in surface water quality using multivariate statistical techniques. Int J Environ Sci Technol 6:467–476

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramesh R, Purvaja R, Ramesh S, James RA (2002) Historical pollution trends in coastal environments of India. Environ Monit Assess 79:151–176

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rani A, Kumar A, Lal A, Pant M (2014) Cellular mechanisms of cadmium-induced toxicity: a review. Int J Environ Health Res 24(4):378–399

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shafie NA, Aris AZ, Haris H (2014) Geoaccumulation and distribution of heavy metals in the urban river sediment. Int J Sedim Res 29(3):368–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh M, Ansari AA, Müller G, Singh IB (1997) Heavy metals in freshly deposited sediments of the Gomati River (a tributary of the Ganga River): effects of human activities. Environ Geol 29:246–252

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh KP, Malik A, Sinha S (2005) Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources of Gomti river (India) using multivariate statistical techniques—a case study. Anal Chim Acta 538:355–374

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh H, Pandey R, Singh SK, Shukla DN (2017) Assessment of heavy metal contamination in the sediment of the River Ghaghara, a major tributary of the River Ganga in Northern India. Appl Water Sci 7:4133–4149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strady E, Dang VBH, Némery J, Guédron S, Dinh QT, Denis H, Nguyen PD (2017) Baseline seasonal investigation of nutrients and trace metals in surface waters and sediments along the Saigon River basin impacted by the megacity of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam). Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:3226–3243

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sundararajan S, Khadanga MK, Kumar JPPJ, Raghumaran S, Vijaya R, Jena BK (2017) Ecological risk assessment of trace metal accumulation in sediments of Veraval Harbor, Gujarat, Arabian Sea. Marine Poll Bull 114:592–601

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taghinia Hejabi AT, Basavarajappa HT, Qaid Saeed AM (2010) Heavy metal pollution in Kabini River sediments. Int J Environ Res 4(4):629–636

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1995) The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. Rev Geophys 33(2):241–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tchounwou PB, Yedjou CG, Patlolla AK, Sutton DJ (2012) Heavy metal toxicity and the environment. Molecular, clinical and environmental toxicology. Springer, Basel, pp 133–164

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Turekian KK, Wedepohl KH (1961) Distribution of the elements in some major units of the earth’s crust. Geol Soc Am Bull 72(2):175–192

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vega M, Pardo R, Barrado E, Deban L (1998) Assessment of seasonal and polluting effects on the quality of river water by exploratory data analysis. Water Res 32:3581–3592

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Q, Shi X, Huang B, Yu D, Öborn I, Blombäck K, Wang H, Pagella TF, Sinclair FL (2007) Surface water quality of factory-based and vegetable-based peri-urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta region, China. Catena 69:57–64

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, 632014, India

    Arumugam Dhamodharan & Ganapathy Pattukandan Ganapathy

  2. Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Sudharsanam Abinandan & Unnithan Aravind

  3. Eco Tech Labs Pvt Ltd., Chennai, 600100, India

    Arumugam Dhamodharan

  4. Department of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, 632014, India

    Subramaniam Shanthakumar

Authors
  1. Arumugam Dhamodharan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sudharsanam Abinandan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Unnithan Aravind
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ganapathy Pattukandan Ganapathy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Subramaniam Shanthakumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Subramaniam Shanthakumar.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no competing interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dhamodharan, A., Abinandan, S., Aravind, U. et al. Distribution of Metal Contamination and Risk Indices Assessment of Surface Sediments from Cooum River, Chennai, India. Int J Environ Res 13, 853–860 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41742-019-00222-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41742-019-00222-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation